A New Beginning
by Lydia2
Summary: AU Following the events of Siobhan's And So The End, Aragorn has many reunions. No Slash!
1. Aragorn

I do not own Middle Earth, Valinor or any of the characters included in this story. Also, this is a sort of follow up on Siobhan's "And So the End" and will make more since if you have read that first. I do have her permission for this. I am also writing this on the concept in her stories that Aragorn's parents both died in the orc attack. Please give feedback. This is AU. I know it is not canon so please don't fry me!

Aragorn ran along, filled with more joy than he had ever before experienced. In front of him were the twins, Elladan and Elrohir, and on either side of him were Elrond and Legolas. He was home at last, a home where he would never again be sick or injured or tired, where he could run for the joy of running. At last he knew how the elves among whom he had grown up felt. He could see forever in the distance and experience a million sounds he had never before heard. 

As they approached the tables set up for the feast, Elrond abruptly halted, grabbing Aragorn as he did so. Legolas also stopped and remained alongside his friend as they now walked along very slowly even though Elrond's facial expression told him to continue.

Though he wasn't worried, for he knew there would never be danger there, Aragorn was perplexed. "Ada?" he asked curiously but without losing his smile.

"Estel…well, you know I'm not truly your father…" Elrond stopped for a moment, grateful for the opening the human had given him but unsure of how to continue. Aragorn nodded for him to go on so he took a deep breath. "Well, I'm sure Legolas has explained to you that this is the Undying Land so all who die or cross the sea come here, though there is a separate place for orcs and those of that ilk." He paused again and hoped that his foster son knew what he was getting at.

Estel kept nodding and smiling as he processed the words. Then he stopped abruptly. "Ohhh! You mean…Do they know…Can I…?" Elrond burst out laughing at the dumbstruck look on his face. "Where are they?" he asked more coherently. "Why didn't they come to meet me at the beach?" 

His father took another deep breath. "Because I asked them not to." Aragorn opened his mouth, but Legolas, who had been listening quietly, clapped a hand over it. Elrond flashed him a look of gratitude and continued, "I knew you would be overwhelmed arriving here so I thought it best to have a chance to warn you ahead of time. They did watch you arrive on the beach and are looking forward to this reunion, since I told them all about you when I arrived. They have a surprise for you too. Go on, they're right over there." He pointed and the man took off running. 

Legolas, however, remained behind with Elrond. "I'll join him in a moment but I thought I would give them some privacy first." He said when Elrond looked at him with surprise.

"You've grown up, Legolas!" the other elf said. Legolas' mouth dropped open from shock but snapped shut at the last word. "Finally." He shoved Elrond playfully and took off at a moderate pace after his friend.

Aragorn reached his parents, whom he recognized mainly because he could see the similarity between his features and theirs. Arathorn and Gilraen smiled at their son. "Mother! Father!" He exclaimed. He hugged them both enthusiastically and they returned in kind. They appeared to be his age as well, or rather, they all had the same ageless quality about them. 

Before he could start to babble, Arathorn began to speak. "Son, it is wonderful to see you again. Elrond has told us so much. But first I'd like you to meet someone…your sister."

Aragorn's mouth dropped open again. This time he was completely speechless. Legolas arrived at that moment. "It's a good thing there are no flies here or you would have caught a lot by now." He reached out and closed his friend's mouth. 

Aragorn stared at his parents and friend for a moment and then gave a gleeful shout. "I have a sister, Legolas! Can you believe it?" He gave the elf a big bear hug while jumping up and down. Everyone burst out laughing and he joined in.

Then his parents stepped apart and a young woman came up to him. "Welcome to Valinor, Brother." His eyes bright with joy (no tears past the beach, remember) he hugged her tightly. 

"Wow!" he said softly in her ear. "I always wanted a sister, to pester of course," he added with a grin of mischief. "Really though, I had brothers in the twins but no sisters since Arwen was with her grandmother when I was young. But that's just as well considering I ended up marrying her. Hey, love! Come meet my sister." This last remark he said in a normal tone, having previously spoken in a whisper. But of course Arwen heard him. "Mother, Father, meet my wife, Arwen Undomiel, daughter of Elrond." She was embraced and greeted and then they all sat down to the feast. Aragorn sat between his sister and father and began questioning them rapidly. Arwen and Gilraen sat across from them, engaged in their own conversation, and a pretty girl with a family resemblance sat on Aragorn's sister's other side, listening quietly. 

"Aragorn!" his sister broke in suddenly; he had not stopped talking for his questions to be answered. "Do you even know my name?"

Aragorn gave her a wide-eyed look of shock. "I'm sorry," He apologized, trying not to laugh but failing when she began to chuckle.

"You should see your face! I am Amanis." She added as an afterthought.

"Hmm, Beautiful Dawn; it suits you." Aragorn complimented her.

"I am your twin." Aragorn's mouth dropped open yet again. Before he could begin to stutter, she continued, "I became ill when we were a month old and died of the fever. You may as well leave your mouth open, too, because I have someone I'd like you to meet. Fislath," she turned to the girl beside her, "meet your father." She looked mischievously at her twin who was staring in utter shock. Arwen too was full of disbelief from hearing the name of the daughter she had miscarried. 

Fislath was enjoying her parents' reaction. She knew them vicariously but from what the twins had told her, Aragorn had been a practical joker. This joke was on him. Aragorn rose slowly and went around his sister to hug his daughter. He had agonized over her death every day of his life, because as a healer he was expected to save lives, and when it was that of his first daughter, who had been stillborn, it was all the more devastating. They indulged in a fierce hug as everyone around them sighed. Arwen came around the table to join in. With a thick voice, Fislath managed to say, "Ada, Amme, some old friends of yours told me all about you. Like that time when you…" He clapped a hand over her mouth quickly and everyone laughed.

"Strider, you ruined it!" A voice exclaimed. 

The ex-ranger looked down to discover four upturned faces laughing at him. Another emotion seized him and he sent up a quick, perhaps slightly irreverent prayer. "Eru, may I please cry!" He received an even quicker answer as tears of joy rolled down his face and he embraced his hobbit friends. They patted him on the back, crying too. It took awhile but finally his faucet slowed to a trickle as he hugged everyone again. Finally he looked over at his sister and daughter again. The two could almost be mistaken for twins except for Fislath's slightly pointed ears. However, they did both have the same dark brown hair, the same shade as his own. Amanis's eyes were silver while Fislath's were a dark brown. He grinned at them and they both smiled back.

Finally everyone reluctantly resumed eating. Food wasn't necessary after all, but eating was enjoyable on occasion. 

As soon as they were done, everyone split apart into groups. They were rather large groups, though, and not precisely cliques. Rather, they were temporary arrangements just for the joy of conversing on a particular common subject. 

Aragorn's included a great many people he did not recognize, but also his family, adoptive family, and a certain group of hobbits, perhaps twenty or thirty. On the heels of this observation came the realization that there were many hobbits and men around. There were also dwarves present, one of whom was Gimli, but they had gone off in a different group, with Gimli speaking animatedly to a dwarf he couldn't recognize. There were also elves in that group which rather amused the man but this was Valinor after all so why shouldn't enemies be friends here?

Aragorn remained quiet as he walked. As Gondor's king, he always had enjoyed listening unobtrusively to the conversations of others. They were very informative. In this case they knew he was listening and respected his desire to remain silent—for a few minutes anyway. Then Frodo came up to him on one side and Bilbo on the other. They looked as though no sorrow had ever touched their lives and Frodo's hand was unblemished. 

"Hey, Strider!" Frodo said cheerfully. "Are you going to tell us about all the marvelous happenings in your life since I left Middle Earth?"

"Well, let's see. Arwen and I had seven children, three boys and four girls. Actually, make that five girls, including Fislath. Eldarion is king now. I also had Frodo, Arathorn, Celebrian, Delia, Gretchen, and Emilia." 

"You actually named your son after me?" Frodo cried, astonished.

Aragorn hugged him again. "Of course, nin mellon, and I hope he turns out as wonderfully as you." Frodo blushed brightly and lowered his head, muttering something self-depreciating.

Eventually, seemingly by general consensus, though Aragorn hadn't noticed anything, they came to a halt. He had been deep in thought and completely oblivious to his surroundings. The first thing he noticed was that it was very bright. Swiftly following that thought was the realization that the light didn't hurt his eyes and did not seem to have a source; it was just there. There were no shadows, however; everything was apparently lit up from within. All around the group were trees of every kind, and on the ground were an equal variety of flowers. It was the most beautiful place he had ever been, but surprisingly it was not overwhelming but rather welcoming and homey. 

He took a deep breath of the clean fresh air and collapsed backward. As he had halfway expected, he landed lightly and the ground felt like and enormous featherbed. He rolled around in delight, feeling like a child but not at all embarrassed. The hobbits were doing the same and laughing uproariously. Aragorn grabbed the closest one and threw him high into the air. Pippin screamed in delight as he flew and was caught by Legolas, who threw him to someone the man did not recognize. Soon all the hobbits were "flying" and evidencing a great enjoyment. Eventually however, they stopped this game, though not from boredom. They all just dropped to the ground or got into the trees to revel in the joy of Life.

An eternal moment later, two Men came over to Aragorn. Their faces seemed vaguely familiar but he was not able to immediately put names to their faces though they were obviously brothers. They dropped casually into a sitting position and greeted him. 

"Aragorn," said one, while the other said, "Elessar."

Aragorn blinked rapidly as he tried to process the information flooding his brain. Then he exclaimed, "Boromir, Faramir! How wonderful to see you!" And he was pleased. He had become very close to Faramir, and the fact that Boromir was before him meant that the man had redeemed himself in dying to save Merry and Pippin. He still didn't know all the details of what had happened between Boromir and Frodo but that no longer troubled him and he embraced his old friends. Boromir seemed tense though. "What's wrong, my friend?" he asked. He hadn't thought anyone could be unhappy in the Undying lands.

"I need to talk to you—all the members of the Fellowship, that is." His voice was very serious so Aragorn nodded.

"All right, but Gimli off somewhere else so you will have to wait unless you think it is important enough to interrupt him." The other man shook his head and indicated that it could wait a little longer. Aragorn shrugged in response and decided to find Arwen, who was no longer in the clearing.


	2. Arwen

I truly intended to update this sooner but had a writer's block. The next chapter is complete except for being only half typed, so if I get any reviews for this chapter, I'll put the third chapter up soon. The fourth chapter, which is also the last, is only half done, and I'm trying to get past writers' block on that one too so bear with me.

Arwen felt a deep joy bubble within her. She was reunited with her family, including the daughter she had mourned for so long. She had joined in the "game" of hobbit tossing and was just beginning to relax in the arms of a tree when a beautiful elf woman dropped down onto her branch. Arwen stared at the elf, whom she had immediately recognized, not just she had met her before but because her parents had both described this particular ancestress of hers-whom they said she resembled. Luthien smiled at her shocked expression. "Welcome, granddaughter." She said. Arwen immediately began to stammer but was cut off by a loving embrace. "Come, we have much to talk about."

Arwen followed her in silence, though her mind gibbered in shock. She couldn't even begin to compare in beauty to her grandmother though she could see that they had similar features. Eventually Luthien led her up into a tree and sat down, motioning for Arwen to make herself comfortable-which was not difficult to do when the trees smelled right and looked right but felt more cushiony than the softest bed she had ever been on in middle earth.

Luthien began, "I'm proud of you dear, for following your heart. I know you hated to hurt your father but deep inside he always did understand why you stayed with Aragorn. He was like a son to Elrond for many years after all. My father was the same when I fell for Beren, or maybe worse. He wouldn't even make conditions with us. Instead, as I'm sure you remember, we had to run away together. Of course Adar was appalled but he couldn't do much about it. He still gets in a huff about it sometimes remembering. But Iluvatar makes him very uncomfortable when he does so he's slowly reconciling himself." She grinned at the shocked expression on Arwen's face. "Yes, some people are uncomfortable here for a time. It depends on their life in middle earth." 

Arwen took a deep breath and composed her features again. Then she blurted out so as not to lose her courage, "Did you ever regret it?" 

Luthien smiled gently and said, "Yes." Arwen stared again but her grandmother continued. "As he lay there dead, I did deeply regret my choice for a moment. Up until that time, I had always believed I could handle it. Or rather I didn't truly believe in his mortality. When I thought about it though, I realized how much joy he had brought into my life and that if I had the choice I would do it all over again. And in a way, Eru did allow me to. Both of us ended up back at Middle Earth again and you know the story from there."

Arwen thought it over for a moment and then said, "Thank you for answering my extremely rude question. I did not lose my beloved but I did fear it for two centuries before finding out that we were both going to be able to sail away together."

"I'm sure he felt even worse believing he would be the cause of your death," Luthien said, before she was interrupted by a snort from below.

"Why would you ever have thought such a thing, Grandmother?" Aragorn said with a hint of sarcastic humor. Arwen laughed and hugged him before noticing the other man with Aragorn. Her eyes widened a bit as she realized who he was—Beren One-Hand, although he now had both hands again. Aragorn's search for Arwen had brought him into contact with Beren, who had told him with an acidic sense of humor a few stories about his life and adventures. Now Aragorn turned from his wife and greeted Luthien properly, gently teasing Arwen that he had come out second best. Fortunately, she took his gibes in good humor and said she had only accepted him in order to be queen. That one didn't hold any water but he pretended shock and they all laughed. "So, how's life here? Or should I say afterlife?" Aragorn asked with a grin.

"Absolutely marvelous," said Luthien, and then added, "but this is true life like everyone should have had if Morgoth hadn't screwed everything up. But anyway, did you ever tell your children how convoluted their ancestry was?" She had a mischievous look in her eyes, though her face was straight.

Aragorn shook with laughter at a memory and said, " We had to, they overheard Merry and Pippin on one of their visits explaining to Bergil how they were related for the fifth time. He never tired of it, though my head always spun trying to understand. I'd probably be fine if I dared ask them now but then they'd likely go on to explain their relation to every other hobbit here and I'd never escape!" They all laughed. Aragorn went on, "But I did do my best to explain that it would be easier to count the greats if they did so from Arwen's side of the family."

Arwen mimed a blow at him. "Yes, he left it to me to explain how many generations back his family got its elven blood."

Her husband chimed in. "I overheard her trying to explain how many cousins removed she was from each of descendant of Elros." 

Now Luthien and Beren were howling with laughter, as were all the other people who had bothered to listen to that conversation, mostly relatives of the four, but also Merry, Pippin, Frodo, Sam, and Gandalf. The hobbits had had many genealogical discussions over the course of the journey from Rivendell. Gandalf of course had known many successive generations of hobbits and so had marginally less difficulty over the course of the journey, mainly because he had long since conditioned himself to tune out any hobbit conversation that involved how they were related. The one relation he had no difficulty with was Sam's to Frodo—a gardener with no blood relation to any of the other three.

Pippin now winked at his cousins and Sam and said, "Now Aragorn, Isumbras I was my great-great-great-great…" He broke off then because Aragorn had come running across the tree branches at his name and then jumped off to land beside Pippin, pushing him to the ground with a hand over his mouth. Now even those who had not been paying the conversation any mind were rolling on the ground laughing. Those who had never dealt with hobbits contented themselves to grins at the antics of those around them. Aragorn slowly took his hand off Pippin's mouth. "Great-great…" Aragorn clapped back down again and glared at the irrepressible Took who rolled his eyes in return.

"Sir Peregrin Took, as a knight sworn to my command, you must obey me, and I tell you, I do not feel the need to discover your relationship to every hobbit here. If you wish, however, you may draw up the entire family tree for me in case I am actually struck by some odd obsession that would give me cause to wonder your exact relationship to Isumbras I."

Pippin nodded with a glint in his eye that worried Aragorn, though he did release the hobbit. "Great!" exclaimed Pippin, causing everyone to laugh again, including Aragorn, though he groaned at the pun. Rising to his feet, the king gave a last grin at the hobbits before jumping back into the trees to rejoin Arwen. She had been watching with great amusement at their antics and now gave her husband a long kiss before teasing him about 'conquering someone half his size'.

Everyone returned to their prior conversations then, including the ones about ancestry. Aragorn made up his mind to stop wondering what was bothering Boromir. He would find out soon enough. For now it was enough just to be here with his family.


	3. Gimli

Gimli walked slowly up the beach beside Galadriel. Though his friend Legolas had already taken off running up the beach, he knew he no longer had need to hurry in the undying lands. He also felt no need to speak and the elf beside him was also walking in silence. When she finally did speak, it was not as if the silence were broken but that a new verse of a song had begun. Gimli blinked at the thought, which was way too elvish for a dwarf but he forced himself to concentrate on his companion's words.

"There is someone who has expressed the desire to meet you, Gimli; he promised to save you a seat at the banquet."

"Might I know his name—and why?" Gimli asked, startled. He had never been the sort that many desired to befriend.

"Oh, let's just say he's an old friend of your father, and he desires to ask how you managed to actually befriend an elf before you arrived here." Gimli's mind began to race and he didn't actually hear the last four words. The elf chuckled at his shocked expression and then reassured him again. "Don't worry so much, he has become my friend." The words slowly sifted through his brain and he finally began to breathe again. Knowing elves, he didn't bother to ask anymore questions because he knew she had said as much as she was going to. His curiosity was piqued however and Galadriel derived a great deal of amusement from the excitement he wasn't able to suppress. 

When they arrived at the feast, she steered him around to where a number of dwarves were seated across from some elves. Despite Galadriel's warning, Gimli was still surprised at the camaraderie between the two groups. They were exchanging jokes that would have been horrible insults in Middle Earth but were merely entertaining here. One of the dwarves noticed him and held up a hand. "Well, look who's finally made it! The legendary elvellon!"

Gimli's eyebrow went up as he went to the seat indicated by the speaker. Politely he said, "Gimli, son of Gloin, at your service," although they obviously already knew who he was; he was just hoping the other dwarf would introduce himself.

"Thorin, son of Thrain, at yours and your family's," he answered correctly. Gimli choked on the ale he was swallowing and began changing colors. Everyone was highly amused at this development since obviously in the undying lands you can't choke to death. When he finally stopped sputtering, he downed the rest of his flagon in on gulp. Thorin didn't give him a chance to start babbling. "So, I hear you managed to befriend the son of Thranduil. How did you survive the company of such prissy elves for so long?" 

Everybody (elves included) started laughing again and the elves and dwarves once more exchanged insults. Gimli immediately relaxed. "Yes, well, you seem quite well acquainted with these elves. How many times did you hit your head before you managed to befriend them?" He retorted.

Everyone laughed again as Thorin sputtered. Finally he managed to get out, his face bright red, "I asked you first."

Gimli chuckled for a moment and then complied. "You should have seen us after we both discovered we were to be in the fellowship. You have never seen an unhappier dwarf or elf. We spent the months of preparation driving each other and everyone nearby crazy. Elrond even threatened to send us to our rooms if we didn't behave." He broke off as all who had known Elrond in Middle Earth (about half) roared with laughter. The rest looked bemused as they tried to reconciled the image of Elrond, who was always calm, though with a sense of longing for his daughter, to the picture conjured in their imaginations of him scolding and elf and dwarf and sending them to bed without their supper. When everyone had calmed down again, he continued, "For the first two or three weeks, Aragorn had to consistently tell us to shut up every five minutes. Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration."

"Not much!" Yelled Pippin, who was sitting a few tables over, talking to Aragorn and some others that Gimli thought looked familiar but couldn't put a name to.

Gimli mock glared in his direction, but Pippin was ignoring him again, deep in conversation. Turning back, the dwarf went on, "We both knew how dangerous it was out there so we tried to keep down the noise but did play other tricks on each other. When we reached Moria, Gandalf made us put aside our bickering. I think he must have had an inkling of what was to come. Anyway, as we left the mines, we realized we had failed him. We had surrendered to terror at the sight of the Balrog and left him to stand and fall alone. Aragorn and Boromir on the contrary were both raging to go help him, as were the hobbits. 

"We didn't speak of it at that time though. Instead, we took out our self-disgust on each other. I was angry because I was to be the only one blindfolded in Lothlorien, Legolas because Aragorn said that all of us were to go blindfolded for my sake. It was seeing Lady Galadriel that made me admit elves are not the beasts my father had always proclaimed them to be. Elrond had been courteous at Rivendell of course, (except during my fights with Legolas) but he wasn't a wood elf. I convinced myself that all wood elves are like Thranduil, not that I had a clear picture of the wood elf king of Mirkwood. Galadriel, though, put a picture into my mind when I first met her. She showed me the fate of the Quest if I did not put aside my differences with Legolas. I thought about that for a time, although I don't know precisely how long since time moves differently in Lothlorien. Eventually, with the image of the destruction of my home running through my head, I went to him and asked him some inane question I don't recall."

"Hah! It was…" Pippin burst out before falling silent with a grin under the combined mock glares of Legolas and Gimli.

"And how do you know what we said, Peregrin Took? As I recall, it was a private conversation far from Caras Galadhrim." Legolas said sternly.

Pippin didn't quail. "I followed him of course. I was curious because I knew you had gone that direction and I knew he knew you went that way. So I snuck along behind to see what would happen. It really was a fascinating conversation. I even memorized what each of you said in case I got an opportunity to blackmail one or the other of you but that never happened. Shall I repeat it verbatim?"

The parties he was addressing shook their heads frantically, and Sam said, "Better not, Pip. They look like they plan on seeing if it is true you can't kill someone in the undying lands. Of course you know they can't but if they try, they might get kicked out and you'll never get your chance at blackmail." His face was perfectly bland as he said this, and Frodo choked on laughter before finally letting it out with a shout. The other hobbits also urged him on.

The rest of the listeners turned their attention to either Legolas or Gimli to see what reaction this got. Legolas's face was a sight as he fought a losing battle to keep his face straight. Gimli's beard normally hid his reactions but here everyone could see his beard twitch. 

The friends exchanged a glance and then simultaneously dove at the two hobbits. Unfortunately, Sam and Pippin had expected this, and without betraying their intentions, they both suddenly sprang to a standing position on their chairs and jumped high to catch a tree branch and scramble into it. Legolas and Gimli were unable to stop their momentum, and since they were coming from opposite directions, they slammed into each other. If they had still been in Arda, they would likely have ended up unconscious with broken bones. As it was though, they bounced off of each other and landed flat on their respective backs six feet apart—but completely unharmed. Getting to their feet, they exchanged a look of disgust, and turned to go back to their seats. Then they jumped straight up themselves to grab the treed hobbits, who squealed in surprise as they were soundly tickled.

Finally they did go sit back down to pick up the conversations where they were left off. "So," said Gimli, flashing a quick glare at Pippin, "we managed after a few bad starts to have our first polite interaction. After that, he showed me around Lorien and translated for me. When we left, we were put in the same boat and had some rather interesting discussions. Then we started guarding each other's back in fights rather than lording over each other the kills we made."

"Really," interrupted Eomer with a smirk on his face. He had only been half listening to Gimli's tale, but at the dwarf's last statement, he couldn't resist teasing him. "I seem to recall a certain dwarf at Helm's Deep bragging that he had killed more orcs than a certain elf. He stared pointedly at his friend, wondering how he would respond to this jibe. 

But Gimli just raised an eyebrow smugly. "I seem to recall that the first two I killed were in defense of your life, my friend." Eomer signaled defeat and turned back to his meal. "Ahem. As I was saying," Gimli said, "we fought against a common enemy instead of each other. With the end of the war, we journeyed together for a time to explore the Glittering Caves and Fangorn. Then we each got permission to bring some of our people to Gondor to rebuild Minas Tirith. 

"Afterward, Legolas went to fix up Ithilien and I to the Glittering Caves of Aglarond. We still came to visit each other and occasionally traveled off to have some adventure in a land we hadn't yet visited, but those were infrequent intervals over a period of a hundred or so years. Then of course Legolas dragged me off to the Havens to build a ship to come here. I'm still not sure how he convinced me to come here by ship. It was bad enough taking ship to save Minas Tirith. Anyway, then he had me talk to Arwen. She didn't need much persuading since Aragorn was obviously (to his friends anyway) fading and doing his best to hide it. My job was the easy one. Legolas had to get Aragorn to come without him suspecting we were taking him with us. The expression on his face when he fully realized what we had done was priceless! He looked like someone had smacked him upside the head with a board with the expected pain not appearing." 

He broke off as he remembered the shock on Aragorn's face after it was all explained. When he had first arrived, there were suppressed tears in his eyes and a barely visible look of combined despair and betrayal. Gimli had had a powerful urge to spill the beans or, or… Instead he had put on his best poker face and tried not to cry himself. Legolas had been the one to set the man straight, and Gimli knew that he still felt guilty while they were sailing for hurting his friend. 

As he sipped his ale, Gimli recalled the conversation he had had with the elf after Aragorn and Arwen had gone down to their cabin for the night.

(flashback)

"Legolas?" said Gimli hesitantly.

The elf had a look of agony on his face that spoke of complete self-disgust. "I can't believe I did that to him. I can't believe I would stoop so low to hurt him like that. I know he hated me. Maybe he has forgiven me by now but I don't know if I'll ever forgive myself." The elf spoke softly as if to himself. The dwarf touched his hand and Legolas looked down at his short friend. "You know what I'm talking about. You saw the look on his face. He truly believed I was cruel enough that I would leave him there." Legolas's voice broke on a sob, and he suddenly collapsed onto the deck, his face streaming with tears.

Gimli hesitantly hugged the elf, afraid he would resist, but Legolas leaned against him. With a start, Gimli realized that Aragorn was standing above them. The man, now old and grey, motioned to him, and using the dwarf's shoulder as a prop, eased himself down beside them. Gimli slipped away and left Aragorn to take his place. He watched as Legolas jerked in surprise at the wrinkled hands now supporting and comforting him. The elf looked up and tried to take a deep breath to start again on his self-recriminations.

Aragorn didn't give him a chance. "I do forgive you and I beg your pardon for doubting you. After all these years I should have known you would never leave without me, or rather I didn't expect to go with you so I believed you would leave after my death. I hoped so, rather, for fear that you would instead die of grief. You have given me the greatest gift. My whole life since Arwen pledged herself to me, I lived in secret agony because I was taking her away from her family forever. Yes, I did feel betrayed when you brought me to see the ship, but we can't live in the past. We must rather face the future for it contains hope of better things."

"You are right, Estel. I should not have caused you pain, but now the pain is over and we go to the place of everlasting joy."

(end flashback)

Gimli wiped away the tear that he had discovered on his cheek and felt a sudden Presence surround him. "_It is good that you understand these things, my child. You are home now. There is one that would speak to you, however, in order that he might know the joy you have found."_

The Voice left then, but Gimli knew he had been privileged to hear Iluvatar. He also knew that it was Boromir that Eru spoke of, and that the man was to speak not only with him, but all the fellowship together. 

At the end of the meal, he went with a group of Dwarves and elves to go see some caves. He knew that someone would find him when it was time for the reunion of the Fellowship.


	4. Boromir and Faramir

I have had horrible writer's block on this story and then lost my original paper that I wrote it on. But then considering that it was one inch wide and about twelve long, that's hardly surprising I suppose. Anyway, here's chapter four, which I'm making up as I type. *g* wish me luck!

Once again, some urge brought all nine members of the fellowship to the same place at the same time. Aragorn was still rather bemused by such "coincidences" but was growing more used to them since he had no clue how long he had been in Valinor, nor did he care. In fact, the one curiosity he truly had left about time there, was whether he would even notice that any had gone by before the rest of his children arrived. They hadn't as yet, but he suspected that that was merely Iluvatar's arranging events so he wouldn't be completely overwhelmed.

Boromir was the last to arrive in the clearing they had 'selected' for this reunion. He was still looking rather uncomfortable, but also like a man about to be given a reprieve. As they all found positions for the conversation, the steward's son sat bolt upright as if the ground was as uncomfortable as in Arda. Everyone else sprawled out haphazardly, except Pippin, who had chosen to hang upside-down in a tree from his knees. Since hobbits weren't particularly fond of heights, normally, this was highly amusing.

Clearing his throat to draw everyone's attention though, the man of Gondor met their eyes and said, "I was granted entry to this land, but under conditions. I am not permitted the comfort you enjoy until I tell all of you my whole tale of what happened during our journey."

Everyone was quiet and had their eyes fixed on his.

"I'm sure everyone remembers that I wanted the Ring from the moment I saw it. It knew my weaknesses and drew me to it so I became fixated. I would have done anything in my power to get it and almost did at Amon Hen. I watched Frodo go off alone to think and then followed. When I came to him, I tried to get him to give me the Ring of his own will, and when he refused I attacked him and would have killed him. My mind was not entirely clear at the time of this, but some part of me did know that I was doing wrong. After he vanished and ran off, I regained my sense, but knew I had forever lost his trust. 

For that reason, I returned to you, but could not bear to tell you the whole truth. When you charged me with the safety of Merry and Pippin, I hoped to do some good to redeem myself, and did in fact do so, but it was not enough. It brought me to this place of life, but my own perceived guilt has prevented me from its enjoyment. Therefore when I arrived, Iluvatar told me that when the last of the Fellowship arrived, if I could obtain all of your forgiveness, I would be made whole."

He stared blindly around, obviously believing he had truly done the unforgivable. Then Frodo stood and walked over to him. "My friend, of course I forgive you. I know full well the power of the Ring for it completely ensnared me before the end and I in fact failed in my Quest for Smeagol was the savior of Middle Earth, not myself." He held out a hand to Boromir and the two clasped hands tightly. 

Then Aragorn and Legolas came up together. "Now don't you start this again Frodo, you know perfectly well that it was only because you saved Gollum that the Quest succeeded. The king glared momentarily at the elf as he said this, just to remind him of their long ago conversation in Minas Tirith. 

Legolas smiled back. "Yes, I know, there is enough guilt to go around if we all feel like rehashing it. However, since I know I will get trounced if I do start that old debate again, I will merely leave it at this: We all forgive you, Boromir, and we all did a very long time ago, even without having heard your story." He looked around at the others, and there were five more nods.

"So with that out of the way, how about we share old stories instead, such as the time Aragorn…" Legolas went flying into a tree, having been thrown there by a mildly annoyed Ranger.

Boromir laughed and relaxed for the first time. Now that his load of guilt was gone, it was amazing what a nice place Valinor really was. He looked over to where Aragorn and Legolas were still 'fighting.' "How old did you say you were?" he asked mockingly. He was then tackled by the pair. Then the hobbits decided that there was a pressing reason why they really needed to be piled on top of the three. That left only Gandalf and Gimli at loose ends. With heaving sighs, they shrugged at each other, and decided that there was an equally pressing reason why the hobbits (and everyone else) needed to be tickled, tossed, and generally maltreated.

This was the sight that Faramir beheld as he was drawn to the glade. He raised his eyebrows. He had known that the Undying Lands brought youth back to men, but it couldn't change their natures, and he had had no idea of the true natures of the heroes of the War of the Ring. As a matter of fact, though, he was a heart also very playful, though he had hidden this before the King of Gondor, since he did not wish to appear foolish. Seeing him so engaged, however, he was unable to resist.

Diving into the mass of insanely laughing friends, he grabbed his brother by the arm and gave him a quick hug, whispering, "Come on, we can take 'em!"

And Iluvatar smiled upon them, shaking his head. Giving in to his own joie de vivre, he (or his Son, rather) decided it was time to show his own sense of humor and joined in the fun.

A/N I know, its corny, but what can I say? I had all these wonderful notes for a much more serious chapter but they are missing so this is the result. And of course I included a cameo for Faramir in thanks to Lireniel (sp) in thanks for inspiring me to finally get this written. If anyone has any ideas of a better way to have concluded this, feel free to hit the review button and tell me.


End file.
